Hotman Regar, Jakarta – Pressure is mounting on the Indonesian military to drop the invasive virginity tests it requires of female recruits, as another lawmaker from the House of Representatives' Commission I critisized the practice on Monday.

Charles Honoris, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has blasted the procedure as discriminative and said it violated human rights.

"Virginity cannot be the moral basis of someone," Charles said. "Moreover, someone's virginity does not have any affect on either competency and capability in her duty and function as a member of TNI [Indonesian Armed Forces]."

Charles is the second lawmaker from House Commission I, which oversees defense, intelligence and security affairs, to criticise the so-called two-finger test in the past two days. Fellow PDI-P politician Tubagus Hasanuddin said on Sunday there was no connection between virginity and morals.

Charles said Indonesia has ratified the United Nations' International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and it was now Indonesian law.

He said the test – which the TNI requires female recruits to take to gauge their morality – discriminated against woman and the TNI must apply equal treatment to both male and female recruits.

The commander of Indonesia's armed forces, Gen. Moeldoko, has defended the practice and described it as a "good thing." He claimed last week the virginity test "is a measure of morality" and there was "no other way" to determine a person's morality.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/pressure-mounts-military-drop-female-virginity-tests/